Level 5 Landslide Warnings Issued for Islands South of Tokyo

Tokyo, Sept. 7 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued Level 5 emergency landslide warnings for the village of Niijima and the town of Oshima in the Izu Island chain south of Tokyo on Monday after heavy rain triggered by a frontal system. At a press conference, Takuya Hosomi, director of the agency’s Forecast Division, urged residents to ensure their safety, including by moving to buildings away from cliffs and ravines. In Niijima, the 24-hour rainfall until 9:40 a.m. reached 485 millimeters, the highest on record for the location. Warm and moist air from Typhoon Krovanh, the 24th typhoon of the year, near the island of Minamidaitojima in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, flowed into the frontal system, intensifying its activity. The typhoon turned into a tropical cyclone near Minamidaitojima at 9 a.m. Monday. Heavy rain was also reported in some areas on the Pacific side of the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan on Monday morning due to the influence of the frontal system. A linear precipitation zone could develop along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region later on Monday. The risk is expected to continue until early afternoon in Fukushima Prefecture, until evening in Miyagi Prefecture and until nighttime in Iwate Prefecture. In the city of Iwaki in Fukushima, a passerby made a 119 emergency call at around 7:45 a.m. Monday, reporting that a vehicle was submerged at a flooded underpass. According to the city fire department, two vehicles were inundated. A woman in her 50s who was in one of the vehicles was taken to a hospital unconscious. The maximum rainfall expected over the 24 hours through noon on Tuesday is 150 millimeters in Tohoku and the Kinki western region, 120 millimeters in the Tokai central region and 100 millimeters in the Kanto-Koshin eastern to central regions. For the subsequent 24-hour period ending at noon on Wednesday, the maximum rainfall is forecast to total 150 millimeters in the Tokai and Kinki regions, 100 millimeters in the Kanto-Koshin region and 80 millimeters in the Tohoku region. For the 24 hours through noon on Thursday, the maximum rainfall is forecast to reach 150 millimeters in the Tokai and Kinki regions and 100 millimeters in the Kanto-Koshin region. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]